grow up
Britishverb
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to reach maturity; become adult
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to come into existence; develop
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Become an adult, as in Sam wants to be a policeman when he grows up . [First half of 1500s]
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Come into existence, arise, as in Similar social problems grew up in all the big cities . [Late 1500s]
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Become mature or sensible, as in It's time you grew up and faced the facts . This usage may also be in the form of an imperative (as in Don't bite your nails—grow up! ) [Mid-1900s]
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
“These kittens might be — once they grow up and leave mom at roughly around 1½ — one of the first lions to actually use the wildlife crossing,” he said.
From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 8, 2026
Raiola decided it was time to grow up.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 27, 2026
“When they grow up and they hear what their dad did to make it better,” he added, “they know I meant it.”
From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 22, 2026
The owner says she wants future generations of female players to enjoy opportunities equal to those available to boys, regardless of where they grow up.
From BBC ● Sep. 18, 2026
“If that’s the way he’s going to grow up, I wish he’d stay a boy,” she thought, with a curious sense of disappointment and discomfort, trying meantime to seem quite easy and gay.
From "Little Women" by Louisa May Alcott
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
